Memory And Cognition Flashcards
What are the 3 components of memory and learning?
Hippocampus - forming new memories
Cortex - storage of memories
Thalamus - searches and accesses memories
What are the 4 components of the limbic system?
Hypothalamus
Hippocampus
Cingulate gyrus
Amygdala
What part of the limbic system is associated with ANS responses?
Hypothalamus
What part of the limbic system is associated with emotion?
Amygdala
What Matt of the limbic system is associated with memory?
Hippocampus
What part of the limbic system does all sensory information pass through?
The hippocampus
What would result if you had bitemporal hippocampal damage?
You would have immediate (sensory) memory that lasts few seconds
You would have intact reflexive (motor) memories
You would have intact long term memories that happened before the damage
But wouldnt be able to form new memories
What are the subdivisions of memories and how long do they last?
Immediate/sensory memory - few seconds
Short term - seconds to hours
Intermediate long term - hours to weeks
Long term memory - can be life long
What type of memory is remembering what you did last weekend?
Intermediate long term memory
Do visual memories decay faster than auditory memories?
Visual decays faster (<1s) whereas auditory decays <4s
In what type of memory is the reverberating circuits found which holds the memory?
Short term memory = electrical phenomenon
In what type of memory is there physical changes and what are these changes?
Long term memory;
- structural changes at the synaptic terminal
- increase in neurotransmitter release on presynaptic membrane
- increase in number of N.T. Vesicles stored and released
- increase in number of presynaptic terminals
What strengthens the synapse at the post synaptic terminal in long term memory?
Increased amplitude in graded membrane potential (EPSP) in post synaptic cells = long term potentiation
What are the 2 types of long term memory?
Declarative or explicit memory
Procedural/reflexive/implicit memory
What is the difference between declarative/explicit memory compared to procedural/reflexive/implicit memory?
Declarative is abstract memory for events (episodic memory) & words, rules and language (semantic memory)
Procedural is acquired slowly through repetitive i.e. playing an instrument
Short term memory is converted to long term memory through…..?
Consolidation
What is consolidation and what does it involve?
Consolidation is the storage of short term memory into long term memory
It involves selective strengthening of the synaptic connections through repetition
When we are trying to remember things such as when we are revising, how is information vulnerable to being wiped out?
During consolidation of memory from short to long term memory, memory simply exists as electrical activity
Consolidation requires attention to strengthen the synaptic connections
Why can we recall information from different associations such as smelling or seeing something?
Different components of memory are laid down in different parts of the cortex i.e. visual component is laid down in the visual cortex
What is the papez circuit?
Reverberating circuit of electrical activity for consolidating memory
Hippocampus - maxillary bodies - anterior thalamus - cingulate gyrus - hippocampus etc
What are the 2 types of amnesia and what memory is lost?
Anterograde - cannot form new memories
Retrograde - cannot access old memories
What type of amnesia does someone have if they cant remember anything what happened before the accident?
Retrograde
What type of amnesia has occurred if you can’t form new memories after the injury?
anterograde
What is the process of intermediate long-term memory?
Increasing Ca entry to presynaptic terminals
Increases neurotransmitter release
How does amnesia occur?
Disruption of the reverberating circuit
What structural changes result in long term memory?
Increase in neurotransmitter release sites at the presynaptic membrane
Increase in neurotransmitter vesicle storage and release
Increase in number of presynaptic terminals
How does certain smells relate to a particular memory?
Olfactory stimuli are relayed via the olfactory tract to the primary olfactory cortex where there are strong connections to the amygdala and hippocampus of the limbic system
What is Korsakoff’s syndrome and how does it result in memory impairment?
Results from chronic alcoholism
Vitamin B1 deficiency leads to damage of limbic system structures
Therefore ability to consolidate memory is impaired
How does Alzheimer’s disease results in impaired memory?
In Alzheimer’s disease there is a severe loss of cholinergic pathways throughout the brain including the hippocampus
This causes gross impairment in memory
What is the correlation between sleep and Alzheimer’s?
Patients with Alzheimer’s disease have greatly reduced REM sleep
Cholinergic neurones are responsible for REM sleep and it is these cholinergic neurones which there is a significant loss of
Why does sleep show to be important in memory consolidation?
Dreaming may enable memory consolidation to reenforce weak circuits
May also help up forget memories that are no longer useful
May be to tidy up memory stores so the same information can be packaged more compactly
